Landmarks Preservation Commission

Associated Press

News about Landmarks Preservation Commission, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Jun. 30, 2015

Appraisal column; New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission votes unanimously to exclude 21 buildings on Broadway between 89th and 109th Streets from expansion of Riverside-West End Historic District. MORE

Jun. 28, 2015

Ginia Bellafante Big City column examines unanimous vote by New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to grant landmark status to Greenwich Village bar Stonewall Inn; cautions decision to preserve historic site, known for its role in national gay rights movement, is not a guarantee of full salvation; while structure can no longer be significantly modified, owner of building is not prohibited from leasing it in future to a different tenant, including a retail chain. MORE

May. 30, 2015

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is set to vote on adding buildings that contain Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, site of 1969 raid where many believe to be birthplace of gay rights movement, to its calender; step all but guarantees site's eventual designation as a landmark, making Stonewall Inn the first landmark specifically honored for its place in city's gay culture. MORE

May. 20, 2015

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission rejects plan by Seagram Building owner Aby J Rosen to alter interior of Four Seasons restaurant, which was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson in 1958 and designated landmark in 1989; Four Seasons lease is set to expire and restaurant is actively looking for new home. MORE

Apr. 18, 2015

Editorial holds that New York City's 1965 landmarks preservation law, which has seen many successes at its 50th anniversary, is not being used aggressively enough; questions how Mayor Bill de Blasio and landmarks chairwoman Meenakshi Srinivasan will balance need for rapid construction of affordable housing with responsibility for preserving city's architectural legacy; contends that delicate balance, while difficult to maintain, is essential. MORE

Dec. 9, 2014

Appraisal column; Landmarks Preservation Commission is reconsidering its proposal to remove 100 properties from list of properties to be considered for landmark designation; property owners across New York City who had been in favor of keeping their properties on list are now being prompted to consider whether they want the official recognition, which comes with responsibilities and restrictions on even minor property changes. MORE

Dec. 8, 2014

Five-story rowhouse at 123 Lexington Avenue, where Chester A Arthur took his presidential oath in 1881, is one of dozens of buildings to languish on the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s agenda. MORE

Dec. 2, 2014

Meenakshi Srinivasan, chairwomen of New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission, proposes removing more than 100 historic structures from agency’s oversight; properties have all remained on commission's calendar for at least five years without a vote on whether they are landmarks. MORE

Nov. 4, 2014

Van Alst family cemetery in Long Island City, Queens, was rediscovered only a little more than a decade ago, after the city decided to rezone the mostly industrial tract for residential, retail and office development; two companies are about to begin development at site and, as required by Landmarks Preservation Commission, had to locate descendants of its last known family member. MORE

May. 21, 2014

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission votes unanimously against demolition request by the Stahl Organization, which has sought for decades to replace two six-story apartment buildings on York Avenue between 64th and 65th Streets with a luxury high-rise; buildings were designated landmarks in 2006 as a testament to early tenement development on the Upper East Side. MORE

May. 20, 2014

Stahl Organization has been trying for decades to demolish pair of historic tenements on Upper East Side to make way for luxury apartment tower; to sell city on proposal, developer is now offering to include new affordable housing inside tower, but razing of the historic buildings would destroy hundreds of existing affordable apartments; fate of twin buildings is now in hands of Landmarks Preservation Commission. MORE

May. 17, 2014

Mayor Bill de Blasio says he has chosen architect and city planner Meenakshi Srinivasan to be the new chairwoman of New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. MORE

Apr. 22, 2014

Editorial holds closure of the beloved Rizzoli Bookstore reflects shortcomings of New York City's system for protecting culturally important sites; argues that Landmark Preservation Commission has neglected its duty to respond to public criticism before slating important buildings for demolition. MORE

Jan. 9, 2014

David W Dunlap Building Blocks column on abandoned New York City-owned landmark school building on Grand Concourse in South Bronx; Landmarks Preservation Commission has issued strong statement, calling city's ownership of structure 'a disgraceful stewardship' that has left building so dangerously deteriorated that emergency demolition may be the only resort. MORE

Oct. 10, 2013

David W Dunlap Building Blocks column; firehouse in Maspeth, Queens is being discussed as possible New York City landmark due to its role in attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; emotional resonance of structure is indisputable, but whether that is enough to grant it landmark status remains to be seen. MORE

Aug. 22, 2013

David W Dunlap Building Blocks column on Bronx General Post Office; Landmarks Preservation Commission is seeking protection for main lobby, which features murals painted in 1938 by Ben Shahn and his wife Bernarda Bryson Shahn; group is hastening to gain landmark status before Postal Service ceases operations and sells building, as it intends. MORE

Jun. 23, 2013

Jim Rendon Getting Started column advises New Yorkers whose buildings have landmark status on how to go about securing permission from Landmarks Preservation Commission before renovating. MORE

Oct. 2, 2012

Elizabeth A Harris The Appraisal column on the long list of request that come before the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission holds that in a city that shifts as rapidly as New York, not every beloved corner can make the cut of landmark status. MORE

Aug. 15, 2012

Storied Manhattan restaurant Rainbow Room moves a step closer to winning interior landmark designation when the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission agrees to schedule a hearing to review it; application is a remnant of a feud between the Cipriani family, which ran the restaurant, and Tishman Speyer Properties, which had been the landlord since the late 1990s. MORE

As the home to a turning point in the gay-rights movement, the Stonewall Inn, is made a city landmark, the preservation movement makes a shift to consider New York buildings that resonate culturally, if not architecturally.